Vol. VI, 



Notes From Michigan. 



ALBION, N. yTjULyTiSSoT 



No. 7 



I Rpeut more time in tha tield duiiug 

 1S88, than iu any other season and thinking 

 that a few notes will be interesting to other 

 collectors I take the following extracts from 

 my note book : ' ' 



Feb. 3, Saw my first shore lurk, I have 

 found fnlly fledged young of this species as 

 early as April 15, but never took any eggs, 

 althoirgh my brother found two sets of fresh 

 eggs iu June. 



Feb. 11, Snow one foot ou the level, but 

 drifted in some places along the fence and 

 ditches to the depth of four feet. Shot four 

 shore larks and wounded another. This 

 flock with the exception of a nut hatch and 

 a Great northern shrike caught in the act of 

 impaling an English sparrow on a thorn and 

 were the only birds seen. 



Feb. 12. Noticed three Blue birds. This 

 is very early for I never saw one here before 

 earlier than the 25th. 



Feb. 18. Shot and wing-tipped a Blue 

 Jay and by using her as a decoy secured an- 

 other, also flushed a Meadow Lark. 



Mar. 1. Some of the hawks are taking 

 advantage of the extraordinary mildness of 

 this season to build their nests. I found a 

 Eed Shonldei-ed Hawk's nest, to-day, nearly 

 complete, will expect a set of eggs in about 

 three weeks. Shot a male Sparrow Hawk, a 

 bird never very common here. 



Mar. 10. Took a trip to Windsor. The 

 warm weather has broken up the ice and it 

 comes floating down the river in large cakes. 

 The woods are full of Blue Jays and the 

 pretty little Bluebird can be seen flitting 

 from post to post in search of ineects, which 

 I am afraid he finds lather scarce. Song 

 Sparrows are also quite plentiful. 



Ma. 12. Gt. Horned Owl. Set of two 

 e.L'gs iucub. far advanced. Nest iu an old 

 Hawk's nest, in a grove near the city. Not 

 near so common as it was a few years back. 

 Mar. 24. Two incub. eggs of Red should- 

 ered Hawk. Nest in in a clump of trees. 



the lowest limb iu the group being 30ft. 

 from the ground. I leave the eggs for 

 young, hope at the same time to secure the 

 parent birds. 



Aprils. Took two Red-shouldered 

 Hawk's eggs from a nest in the forks of a 

 short scrub oak in low, daiup woods. The 

 birds were very much distressed and hover- 

 iug over-head gave vent to their feelings by 

 many cries. The locality generally chosen 

 by this bird for a nest is the main fork of a 

 tree in deep woods. A piece of ground cov- 

 ered by beech and surrounded by timber of 

 a swampy nature is favorite site. They con- 

 struct a large, bulky nest, though compara- 

 tively shallow . It is composed of sticks and 

 twigs carelessly placed together and lined 

 with corn-husks, leaves, feathers, etc. As 

 soon as incubation begins the loose, downy 

 feathers of the breast come out and may 

 be seen clinging all over the nest and to the 

 surrounding limbs. At this jjeriod the te- 

 inale has a curious habit of ornamenting the 

 kest with green leaves. The male takes his 

 turn in incubating the eggs which usually 

 does not commence until the second is de- 

 posited. The eggs are two to live and some 

 times six in number, but the majority of 

 sets however consist of three. Each set is 

 singularly variable in regard to iuarkings 

 the first being much more highly colored 

 than the last. The ground color being a 

 dirty white with a bluish tingue, spotted 

 and blotched with brown and amber cf 

 different shades, size about 2.25 by 1.75. A 

 handsome specimen in my cabinet is hght 

 bufl-, blotched with very dark brown, gather- 

 ed in a broad ring around the larger end. 

 When I find a nest and know the set is not 

 complete I remove them and substitute hens 

 eggs. The E[awk cannot distinguish the dif- 

 ference and sits on them as faithfully as on 

 her own. I found fastened among the 

 sticks of a nest of this species a Wood- 

 mouse's nest containing young. 



April 10. American Crow, set of six fresh 

 egg-^. Nest composed of sticks and twi^s, 



